Lebanon under pressure from the United States and Israel to disarm Hezbollah with no clear results
- Pressure from the US and Israel on Lebanon
- The response of the Lebanese Army and leaders
- Conflicts and ceasefire monitoring
Pressure from the US and Israel on Lebanon
The growing pressure exerted by the United States and Israel on the Lebanese Army to disarm the militant group Hezbollah is intensifying amid an unprecedented political and security crisis in the country. Lebanese leaders express their willingness to engage in dialogue with Israel, although so far they have received no favourable signals.
Since November last year, the Lebanese army has increased its deployment in southern Lebanon, near the Israeli border, following a Washington-brokered ceasefire that sought to end more than a year of clashes between Israel and the Iranian-backed group. The official plan, agreed upon by the government, stipulates that before the end of this year, Hezbollah's military infrastructure south of the Litani River, located about 30 kilometres from the border, must be dismantled. Subsequently, this operation is expected to be extended to other areas of the country.
A Lebanese military official, who preferred to remain anonymous due to the sensitivity of the issue, said: ‘We respect the timetable approved by the government, of which the United States and other interested parties are aware.’ However, he expressed concern about the possible repercussions of constant pressure from the United States and Israel, noting that ‘the demand to disarm Hezbollah throughout Lebanon by the end of the year is impossible.’
At the same time, Israel continues to carry out almost daily attacks in the south and maintains a military presence in five areas near the border, accusing Hezbollah of rebuilding its military capabilities in the region. In recent weeks, these attacks have intensified, adding to the tension in Lebanon.
The response of the Lebanese Army and leaders
The Lebanese Army has continued to reinforce its troops on the southern border, with a deployment of around 9,000 soldiers, according to a senior officer. It has requested to search homes in the south of the country to find weapons or tunnels associated with Hezbollah, a task that the Army faces with limited personnel and resources. This force, which has approximately 80,000 members, depends heavily on US economic aid and suffers from serious liquidity problems.
The country's president, Joseph Aoun, a former army chief, was elected last January with international support, while his successor in the military command, Rodolphe Haykal, was scheduled to travel to Washington for official meetings. However, meetings with US officials and politicians were cancelled at the last minute, including influential Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who expressed his strong criticism on social media of what he described as Haykal's ‘weak and almost non-existent effort to disarm Hezbollah’.
Graham also criticised an official statement by the Lebanese Army defining Israel as an ‘enemy’, a term commonly used in Lebanese discourse, as Lebanon has technically remained in a state of war with Israel since 1948. The statement condemned ‘the Israeli enemy's insistence on violating Lebanese sovereignty’ in response to Israeli soldiers firing on United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) forces.
Faced with international pressure, President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam expressed openness to starting negotiations with Israel. Salam stated on Bloomberg TV that his government is ready for dialogue and hopes for US support to move forward with this process. ‘I reiterate my offer of willingness to negotiate with Israel,’ said the Prime Minister.
However, these positions have not generated a favourable response from either Israel or the United States, while Beirut's isolation appears to be deepening. The long-awaited international donor conference to strengthen the army has not yet materialised. ‘I find that puzzling. They ask for negotiations, and when we show our willingness, they refuse to meet,’ Salam said, noting that he will raise this issue with Washington.
Conflicts and ceasefire monitoring
Since the cessation of hostilities agreement, UNIFIL has recorded more than 7,500 air violations, nearly 2,500 land violations north of the Blue Line, and the handover of more than 360 abandoned weapons depots to the Lebanese Army. A committee comprising the United States, France, Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL holds regular meetings to monitor compliance with the ceasefire.
The Lebanese Army has coordinated actions with this committee and UNIFIL to dismantle Hezbollah's military infrastructure, despite limited resources. These operations have cost the lives of 12 soldiers in recent months. A senior officer stressed that his army is being asked to do what Israel was unable to achieve with its missiles, air technology and military capabilities during the last conflict.
US envoy Tom Barrack has described the Lebanese government as incapable of wresting control from ‘terrorist Hezbollah’. This group, which emerged after the Israeli invasion of 1982, has retained its weapons since the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), arguing that it is acting in defence against Israel. Although it claims to respect the ceasefire, Hezbollah refuses to surrender its weapons.
For his part, an Israeli military officer stated that the monitoring mechanism is in place, although ‘not as quickly as we would like, nor in the places we would like.’ He warned about Hezbollah's reconstruction and reaffirmed that ‘we will not allow such threats to grow on our territory.’ He reported that the group still possesses long-range missiles and that after the previous conflict it retained between 20 and 30 per cent of its offensive capacity.
‘You can never achieve zero... To achieve zero, you have to go house to house, to every corner of Lebanon, which is more or less what we expect the Lebanese army to do, because we cannot do it ourselves,’ the officer concluded. A Western military source considered the total disarmament of Hezbollah unlikely and mentioned that ‘Israel believes that, after the pressure received from Washington on Gaza, it will have a free hand to deal with Hezbollah.’
Unlike the United States, the French government expressed concern about the intensification of Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon. A spokesperson for the French Foreign Ministry stated: ‘We are concerned about this intensification of Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon. We condemn the Israeli attacks that are causing the death of civilians in the south. Our position is one of respect for the ceasefire of 27 November 2024.’